Motive vs. Opportunity

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  • Miss Marple
  • Short Story
  • 1928

A rich man intends to leave his estate to his nephew and two nieces, but just before he dies he changes his will to include a medium who has convinced him his nephew is a fraud. From The Thirteen Problems.

More about this story

Mr Clode is a very rich man and intends to leave his estate to his nephew, George, and two nieces. But before he dies, he changes his will to include a Mrs Spragg, a medium who has convinced him that George is an imposter. When Clode dies they discover his new will is missing. Who among the many suspects could have stolen it? The only people who had a motive had no opportunity – it is left to Miss Marple to solve the case.

The story was published in the Royal Magazine in the UK in 1928 and in the US, under the revised title Where's the Catch? later that year. It was included in the 1932 collection, The Thirteen Problems, Miss Marple's first short story collection.

It has never been adapted.

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